Roses Blooming
by eviltwin2318
Summary: Rose Weasley has a boyfriend. But Scorpius Malfoy has been talking to her a lot lately... And one boy is trying his hardest to rip them all apart. Rose/OC, Rose/Scorpius. T for swearing. slightly AU because I changed characters ages.
1. Diagon Alley

Rose strolled leisurely along Diagon Alley. She moved deliberately but slowly, weaving through the rushing crowd. Rose always made a point of walking slowly and never hurrying for anyone. It gave her a dignified, graceful look that often intimidated others

Today, she was jubilant. Her parents, Ron and Hermione (Rose never, ever called them Mum and Dad) had finally agreed to let her do her school shopping on her own, but with one condition- she had to take Lily Luna, her cousin, with her.

However, Lily was sixteen and had disappeared as soon as Rose apparated them both there, leaving Rose with two glorious hours of pure freedom.

A look of disgust crossed her face as she passed by Twilfit and Tattings, a wizard robe store. The snobbish pureblood salespeople only bothered to help you if you came from one of the big pureblood families, like the Malfoys or Selwynes. Through the large glass windows, she could see three salesgirls helping Scorpius Malfoy but dozens of other customers unattended. Rose always did her shopping at Gladrags wizarding wear.

Turning a corner, Rose found herself in front of an enormous bookstore. Squeezing her way inside through the crowded arch opening, Rose stalked over to the student book display in the east corner. Grabbing the three new books she needed (_ A standard book of spells, Grade 7 _by Miranda Goshawk, the_ Encyclopedia of magical plants and their purposes _By Professor Neville Longbottom, and_ Healing Potions: A Complete Guide to all Magical Maladies and Afflictions _by Healer-in-charge Augustus Pye) Rose was about to leave to pay for the textbooks when a familiar voice called her name.

"Hey, Rose." Rose whirled around. Immediately her expression turned sour at the sight of the muscular, white-blond smirking boy leaning on a bookshelf.

"Oh, it's you." It was clear she had been expecting someone else.

"Who did you think I was, your lame-ass boyfriend?" Scorpius (for that was who the boy was) smirk grew more pronounced.

Rose had been dating the Gryffindor Chaser, Jackson Blake for seven months and was sensitive to comments about him. She flushed scarlet and snarled "He is _not_!" Although they were both Ravenclaws, Rose and Scorpius had never seen eye-to-eye on many issues (especially blood purity, although they were both firmly against the dead Voldemort) and did not get along well.

"Sorry." Rose inspected his face for signs that he was lying. There were none. Rose was shocked. Had Prince Malfoy, bratty Ravenclaw seeker, Mr. Better-than-you Scorpius, attention-seeking ass, just apologized to _her? _

"...Okay..."

"What?" Scorpius seemed genuinely surprised

"I'm waiting for you to snap out of this polite phase, because there's no way it'll last." Rose snapped. To her surprise he laughed. This was too weird for Rose.

"Um...bye!" Rose rushed off uncharacteristically fast, wanting to be out of the shop, a first for her.

"Bye! See you on the train!" Scorpius called after her. Rose didn't answer.

After paying eight galleons for her new books, Rose walked out of the bookstore in her normal, slow fashion. Now to find Lily.

Rose pulled out a small metal lump from her pocket. It was a muggle cell phone. Rose had begged her mother for one at the beginning of summer vacation so she could communicate with all her summer muggle BFF's. They all had them. After Rose had presented her argument, Hermione had to admit that the 'weird muggle device' could be useful after all, so she had gotten them for Rose and Hugo, and Aunt Ginny had done the same thing for all three of her kids.

Quickly dialing Lily, Rose pressed the cold metal to her ear. Lily picked up.

"Lils?"

"Yeah?"

"Where are you? I finished buying my books."

"Did you get mine too?"

"No. You didn't give me your list."

"Ooooohhhh." Rose heard the sound of crinkling paper (Most wizards used Muggle paper now due to the Animal Rights Act the Ministry put into effect twelve years ago putting limits on the amount of animals per year that could be slaughtered for skin to use as parchment).

"Sorry, Rosie."

"It's Okay." Rose shook her head at Lily's absent-mindedness. "Where are you now?"

"I'm..." In the background Rose heard Lily whispering to someone who then whispered back. "I'm in front of the apotha- apotheca- . You know what I mean." Rose giggled. Lily could be a bit ditzy at times.

"Well, anyway, I'm with Vanessa and Charly."

"'kay, bye." Lily's phone went dead. Rose flipped hers shut and slid it back into her skirt pocket. She made her way through the bustling crowd towards the Apothecary.

Rose groaned. Just ahead of her (although, luckily, they hadn't spotted her yet) were the four seventh years that called themselves the New Marauders. Although three Gryffindor boys and one Gryffindor girl formed the core of the group, eight or so others trailed behind them, copying and watching their every move. The Marauders were the royalty of Hogwarts. Rose's cousin, James, was one of the two ringleaders, along with Sam Bright. Sam Bright, Rose thought, was no so much royalty as a royal pain in the ass. From the beginning of their sixth year, Sam had been trying to get her to go out with him, pranking her, and generally bugging the crap out of her. It was much, Rose had been told, the way James had been to Lily, Uncle Harry's parents. It annoyed her because people thought of them as Lily and James. There was a lot of winking between her Aunts and Uncles and parents when the subject was brought up. Everyone seemed to think it was inevitable that she and Sam would grow up, fall in love, and get married.

But it couldn't be that way. Rose wouldn't _let_ it be that way. No one seemed to remember that Rose already had a boyfriend, that she was already in love with someone else. Jackson Blake. No one seemed to get that Jackson and Rose thought that they had already found their soul mates in each other.

Rose skipped to the other side of the busy road, hoping that they would not notice her. They didn't. Rose let out a sigh of relief. Sam had been doing everything in his power to make Rose break up with Jackson. It pained her that Hugo and James were helping him too. Her own brother. _Why_ couldn't they just get that she was happy? Didn't they want her to be happy?

The New Marauders and their fanclub (mainly comprised of girls, but some boys too) disappeared as Rose rounded another corner and neared the apothecary. In front of it, Lily was chatting at a high-speed pace with Vanessa Corner, a pretty Chinese girl, and Charly Delacour-Bronte , a willowy part Veela girl (that had half the boys at Hogwarts chasing after her) that was actually a relative of the Weasley's- Fleur Weasley's deceased younger sister's child. Charly lived with Rose and Lily's Aunt and Uncle because both her parents had been murdered just after the final battle while rounding up the last Death Eaters.

"Hey Lils, Charly, 'Nessa!" Rose was cheerful after her narrow escape from Sam, but her attitude was quickly replaced by one of disgust when she smelled the horrible odor coming from the Apothecary.

"What _is_ that?" Rose wrinkled her nose.

"Probably the fish intestines! Isn't it all _lovely?_" Charly joked.

"Yeah. Simply brill place to meet, Lils." Vanessa teased. Lily laughed. Rose's cousin was hardly ever offended by anything. She had a bubbly personality, and, although she was occasionally forgetful, had blond moments, and was forever daydreaming, Lily thought deeply and made connections. Rose was extremely lucky to have her as a friend. Lily was the likable kind of person who could be friends with anyone.

However, Rose was momentarily distracted by the awful stench from three barrels by the shop's entrance. One was, as Charly said, full of slimy goop with a sign that said

**Fish Intestines**

**7 sickles per scoop**

The closest barrel contained mutilated frog parts and the third rotting salamander tails (3 sickles each).

"Eeuurgghh." Rose coughed. "Let's go, Lils. We still need to get owl treats and your books."

"Bye, guys! I guess I'll see you guys Wednesday on the train!" Lily waved goodbye.

"Bye, Nessa, Charly." Rose waved too. Although her best friends were Raychel and Chantalle, she was still very close to the other two girls, especially since Charly was practically a cousin, having been legally adopted by Bill and Fleur.

"Bye, Lily, Rose! Oh," Vanessa said, "And I forgot to tell you guys, this is Billy." she dragged a small boy who looked almost exactly like her (except for the fact that Vanessa was a foot taller) from the fish guts barrel. "He's my brother, and He'll be starting Hogwarts this year too!"

the kid didn't look excited as most children were upon starting their first year at the famed school, but rather frightened. "He's afraid he'll be in Slytherin." Vanessa said in an undertone as the boy ran straight back to the guts.

"Poor thing." Said Charly. "Mind, I wouldn't fancy being in Slytherin either, now." Charly and Lily were Gryffindors, while the other two were Ravenclaws. After the war in which most Slytherins had joined Voldemort, a clear divide had grown at Hogwarts. The Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws had banded together and were extremely united. The school-wide hated Slytherins, however, were seen as evil, crazy, muggle hating blood purists and labled traitors and murderers. Anyone in Slytherin was assured of a hard time to come for seven long school years, and then would have trouble finding jobs afterward. Being sorted into Slytherin was a sort of doom no one wished to have. Some, including the current Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall, had even thought (and in some cases campaigned) to have the Slytherins thrown out of Hogwarts, but in the end decided against it, in part because of Harry Potter's pleading and in part because McGonagall thought Dumbledore, the late Headmaster, would not have wanted it.

After a moment of awkward silence, Vanessa said, a little too brightly "Well, bye guys! See y'all on the train!" Vanessa grabbed little Billy's hand and, waving, walked off to Madame Malkin's for Billy's school robes.

Charly (who was, in fact seventeen, but had been held back a year as she had missed the Hogwarts cut off date by two days) waved, turned on the spot, and disapparated with a loud crack. Lily handed Rose her book list and said hurriedly "Let's meet at Florian Fortescue's in a half hour, 'kay?". The two rushed off to finish up the shopping.

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Exactly half an hour later, Lily and Rose were sitting across from each other at a small table in the Ice cream parlor. They both held enormous, dripping ice creams, although Rose had a strawberry swirl as always, and Lily was trying a new flavor (Banana walnut fudge).

"I love days like today!" Lily sighed happily. It was a beautifully sunny day. "It's so _bright!_"

Rose immediately got a sour expression. "Don't even _talk_ to me about him."

Lily looked sympathetic. "What's he done now?" Lily was one of the few people who understood that Rose and Sam were _not_ going to end up happily married someday. She respected that Rose was in love with Jackson and never helped her brothers Albus and James try to break them up. Rose was glad for Lily's support, because most people thought Rose was an idiot for not wanting to go out with the unbelievably _hot_ Gryffindor Keeper. But Rose already had an unbelievably hot Quidditch player- Jackson, and he actually cared about her as much as she loved him. Few people, including Rose's best friend Chantalle, understood that Rose was happy without Sam. That she didn't want Sam.

"he hasn't _done_ anything, thank god I avoided that." Rose still looked irked. "But I saw him earlier. With James and Hugo."

"Not Albus?"

"No. Al was probably with his own friends. Thank God he doesn't hang out with those stupid Marauders. I _hate _them!"

"No, you don't. They annoy you. Their not important enough to waste time hating, Rosie." Lily said softly. Lily hardly ever used Rose's nickname anymore, usually only when it was important.

Rose snorted. "it's easy for you to say, they're not following _you _all over the place."

Suddenly, Lily giggled.

"What?"

"Look!" Lily giggled again and pointed.

Rose followed her finger. Outside the raised ice cream parlor patio, a familiar white-blond was waving. At her.

"Scorpius." she hissed between clenched teeth.

"Rosie, wave back. It's polite." Lily giggled.

Rose waved. Scorpius beamed. "Happy?" she hissed at Lily.

"Yes!" Lily squealed. "He's cute!"

"I. Have. A. Boyfriend." Rose ground out angrily.

Lily only giggled more. "Do you know him?"

"Yes. Scorpius _Malfoy_, seventh year Ravenclaw prefect and seeker." Rose admitted.

"Does he know you?"

"Well, duh. He just waved to me." Rose looked fairly amused.

"Does he _like _you?"

"I don't know!"

"Do you like him?" Even though Rose was getting annoyed, Lily still pressed for details.

"NO!!!" Lily wisely decided to quit the interrogation. They finished their ice creams in silence, Rose glowering at her ice cream cone's pink swirls. When Lily was done they got up and, lily holding tight to Rose, disappeared with a crack.

**A/N: what do you think? Please review and tell me! Oh, and, just so it's not confusing, here are the characters and ages**

**The Weasley/Potters**

**Rose Weasley: 17 year7**

**Hugo Weasley: 15 year5**

**Lily Luna Potter: 16 year6**

**James Potter: 17 year7**

**Albus Potter: 16 year6**

**Charly Delacour-Bronte: 17 year6**

**OC's**

**Samuel Bright: 17 year7**

**Vanessa Corner: 16 year6**

**Chantalle Bree: 17 year7**

**Raychel Amberlake: 17 year7**

**Billy Corner: 11 year1**

**Jackson Blake: 17 year7**

**Other:**

**Scorpius Malfoy: 17 year7**

**Anyway, please review! I will update on 6/6/09 if I get at least 1 review. Also, I will write 500 words for every review I get, so review if you want a longer chapter.**

**If I don't get 1 review by next Saturday, I just won't write anymore.**


	2. Not Like Lily

Wow! This story already has more reviews than my other 5-chapter story!

**Thank you thank you thank you to my 7 reviewers!**

**Sammy: yes. I didn't want Lily to be three years younger than everyone else like she is in the book, because she and Rose are really good friends and it would be odd if Lily was only 13.**

**EvieRox: I know, I messed up the ages totally, but just bear with me, I did it for a reason. No, Lily and Albus are not twins. Albus is ten months older, but yes, they are in the same year. I squashed all the Potter/Weasleys into three years so the story works. Also, I can't tell you if Rose and Scorpius get together because that would totally ruin the story. Also, I can tell you that Jackson and Rose are completely in love at THIS POINT IN TIME. That might change later in the story. And another thing- I know Charly doesn't make complete sense. But you never know. Maybe Gabrielle was a teenage mother at seventeen. Maybe she was actually killed three years after the war by the last death eaters. Honestly, I don't know. But it works out somehow in my head. Remember, this takes place TWENTY FOUR years after the final battle.**

**also, thanks to Hpobsessedrissa and Curious Melancholy for adding Roses Blooming to their favs and to EvieRox and Jasmineflower27 for putting my story on story alert.**

**It makes me really, really happy to know that people are enjoying my writing.**

**Disclaimer: JKR owns Hp. I am not JKR. Therefore...**

_Previously:_

_"__Well, duh. He just waved to me." Rose looked fairly amused._

_"Does he like you?"_

_"I don't know!"_

_"Do you like him?" Even though Rose was getting annoyed, Lily still pressed for details._

_"NO!!!" Lily wisely decided to quit the interrogation. They finished their ice creams in silence, Rose glowering at her ice cream cone's pink swirls. When Lily was done they got up and, lily holding tight to Rose, disappeared with a crack._

Rose spun on her heel and disappeared with a crack. The familiar feeling of apparating set in and it felt like every bit of air in her body was being squeezed out.

Not even two seconds later, the pressure disappeared and Lily and Rose landed, gasping for breath, in the Potter's kitchen. Rose put Lily's bags down on the oak kitchen table next to them.

"Aunt Ginny? Uncle Harry?" Rose called.

"Rose, is that you?" A short woman with long, straight, blood-red hair appeared in the entry. "Oh, good. James apparated back here with Albus and Hugo ten minutes ago! We thought you two were lost!"

"Nope." Lily didn't seem to notice the worried, slightly angry look on her mum's face. "Just eating ice cream."

Ginny shook her head. "I'll have to send James with you next time. If you can't remember what time you're supposed to leave Diagon Alley, I'll have to send someone more mature to babysit you. We were _extremely_ worried, in case you didn't notice." as she spoke, six more adults (three of them with the same fiery hair Ginny had) appeared in th small arch leading into the kitchen.

"Uncle George!" Lily and Rose cried out in delight. He had most certainly not been there when they had left. Uncle George was an awesome person. Every time he visited, he left bags of sweets for the five children. They weren't ordinary sweets, either. Ginny and Hermione were forever wondering why their seemingly healthy children were always vomiting, fainting, or running dangerously high fevers whenever there were chores to be done.

"What, no recognition?" A tall, willowy woman appeared in the room. She kissed the girls on both cheeks. It was Fleur Delacour, with no accent.

"Aunt Fleur! Is Charly here?"

"Yes. We arrived an hour ago. Charly apparated about ten minutes back." Fleur and Bill had no children other than Charly, and they loved her like their own child. "She is in your room, Lily. You and Charly and Rose will be sharing while we are all here." she added.

Lily quickly excused herself to go find Charly.

Almost the whole Weasley/ Potter clan was there, except for Charlie and Annaliese, who were visiting her parents, and Percy, Donna, and their son, Fred. Percy claimed he couldn't get time off work, but the real reason was that Donna disliked the Potters (especially Ginny) and Percy went along with whatever she said.

After enduring several minutes of boring conversation, Rose quietly excused herself to join Charly and Lily.

They were all in James and Albus' bedroom , watching as Albus and Hugo played an intense game of gobstones.

"Ha!" Albus said gleefully. "I'm winning!" One of the gobstones squirted black ink into his eye. Hugo cackled. Albus shut up as he wiped his stinging eye free of the dark substance.

Charly, Lily, and James cheered Hugo on as he captured three of Albus' gobstones and won the game.

"Hey, you lot." Rose walked in the open doorway.

"Hey Rosie Darling!" James said. "Sam and I saw you in Diagon Alley today."

"Shit." Rose swore, her mouth curving into a small 'oh' of horror.

"Language, Language." James shook his head sarcastically.

"And you didn't stop to talk to me because Sam's over his Rose Obsession?" Rose sounded hopeful.

"Nope. Sammie's playing hard to get to make you_ jealous." _Hugo snorted.

"Hugo, she wasn't supposed to know that, kid." James Potter said lazily. "Ah, well. Maybe it worked. Are you jealous, Rosie? Cause if you're not, he's going to ask out Chantalle."

"I'm sure she'll be thrilled." Rose snapped, swelling with anger. "And you can tell_ Sammie_ what I think of his plan!"

"What _do_ you think, Rosie?"

"I THINK HE'S A BRAINLESS, FAT-ASS ROSE-OBSESSED STALKER BITCH WHO SHOULD LEARN TO RECOGNISE A LOST CAUSE! I THINK HIS PLAN IS STUPID, IMMATURE, AND IDIOTIC AND HE KNOWS I HAVE A FUCKING BOYFRIEND!" Rose screamed.

"Do you two really- you know-" Hugo asked, wide-eyed.

"OH FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!" Rose stormed out of the room, stomping her feet loudly. James, Hugo, Albus, Charly, and Lily stared after her with frightened eyes. Rose was always calm and composed. To see her lose control like that... well...

Not long after, James announced he was going to bed, and 'get out of my room ladies unless you want to see me naked'. Lily scrambled out of the room quickly with Charly at her heels.

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It was dark, at least eleven. Lily and Charly were asleep, Lily on the bed, Charly on a pullout couch. Rose stuck her hand inside her sleeping bag and pulled out a hard metal object. It had been stuck in the sleeping bag for a week.

Pulling out her wand, Rose murmured "Lumos." A tiny golden light appeared on the end of the cherry wood stick, illuminating the object in her hands. It was a badge.

Rose Weasley

HEAD GIRL

Rose hadn't told anyone, not her friends or her family about it, because... Well, Rose didn't know why. When she got her letter, and seen the badge, she had been happy, elated. But when Hermione came up to see the book list, Rose had hidden the badge in her sweater. Hermione had been disappointed her daughter had not gotten the badge, but she had tried to mask it.

A week later, she had meant to show them the badge, but something told her, not yet. The time was not right. Not now.

But Rose didn't know when the time would be right. She didn't even know if she was planning to tell Ron and Hermione at all. They would find out anyway, she thought sourly, the minute Hugo writes home from school.

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When Charly woke up that morning, Lily and Rose were still asleep. She gently shook Lily awake, but tip toed around Rose, not sure if she was still angry from last night.

"'s time to get up already?" Lily mumbled.

"Yeah." But Charly wasn't paying attention. She was looking at Rose. Who was sleeping in an odd position, with her hand clenched around something. A shiny metal corner stuck out between her fingers.

Charly walked quietly over to Rose and gently pried her fingers loose. A metal badge fell out onto the floor with a small clang, but deafening in the early morning silence. Rose stirred.

"Wha- what ha- happ-pened?" she yawned. Then her gold-brown amber eyes caught sight of the Head Girl badge.

Charly scooped it off the floor and held it out to her. "Explanations?"

For a second, only Rose's amber eyes moved. Then she grabbed the badge and bolted, locking herself in the bathroom. Charly and Lily raced after her.

Just as they got to the bathroom, the lock glowed electric blue.

"Alohomora!" Lily said confidently. It didn't work. "C'mon, Rosie. Alohomora. ALOHOMORA!

Charly grabbed Lily's wand hand. "That won't work. She's enchanted it."

"Rose? ROSE!" Lily banged on the door.

"C'mon, Rosie, we just want to know about the badge!"

"Badge? What badge?" James strutted out of his room in a pair of boxer shorts, his chest bare. Albus and Hugo stumbled out after him, bleary-eyed. "Who's badge?"

"Rosie's shiny new _Head Girl_ badge." Lily told him.

"Not possible. Remember, Rose told Aunt Hermione that she didn't get it, and- NO. WAY." James had just caught site of the multicolored metal pin.

"ROSE! LET US IN!" Hugo screamed. Being the youngest, he had the highest most piercing voice of the boys. James winced.

"Quieter, kid. Quieter."

But Hermione had already heard. Coming up the stairs with a basket of clean laundry (last minute clothes to add to the kid's trunks), she saw the five children grouped around the bathroom door.

"What is _this?_" she demanded. "Guys, give Rose a little privacy. She's a big girl and I'm sure she doesn't want you all waiting for her to get off the toilet."

"Oh, Rose isn't on the toilet." Charly said innocently. "We're just waiting to give her the new badge."

Hermione set down the basket of laundry. Her eyes narrowed. "_what_ badge?"

"Her shiny metal _head girl_ badge, Auntie."

Hermione marched up to the door. "Rose, disenchant the lock, _now._ We need to have a little chat."

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Ten minutes and a lecture about honesty later, Rose was sitting at the kitchen table with an untouched plate of toast, glowering at anyone who attempted to talk to her.

"Come on, Rosie, eat something!" Lily encouraged, ignoring the glare Rose was giving her. Lily heaped Rose's plate with eggs and bacon. Rose ignored it and continued to send death looks at Lily and Charly.

"Oh, really, Rose. This is getting a tad ridiculous." Charly sighed. "They were going to find out sooner or later. You _were_ planning on telling them, right?"

Lily only glowered in response.

"C'mon, Rose, why'd you do it?" Harry asked, concerned. "It was destined to happen! You're an obvious head girl choice!"

Ron added "Yeah, Rosie, you're just like Hermione and Harry's mum, it's-"

"THAT'S IT! DON'T YOU GET IT?" Rose slammed her plate on the table sending scrambled eggs flying everywhere. Lily ducked to avoid a greasy piece of bacon she had just thrown on Rose's plate. "I'M NOT- I'M NOT LILY!"

Lily looked concerned. "Well, of course you're not Lily, I am! We never said you-"

"NOT YOU, _HIS_ MUM!" Rose was crying. She wildly pointed her finger at Harry, who looked shocked.

"NO ONE GETS IT! I'M NOT LILY EVANS! SAM BRIGHT IS_ NOT_ MY SOUL MATE, HE'S NOT MY JAMES! I DIDN'T TELL YOU I GOT HEAD GIRL BECAUSE I DON'T- I DON'T NEED MORE 'OH, SHE'S EXACTLY LIKE LILY. YOU MUST BE SO _PROUD_!' I AM NOT LILY EVANS! I WILL NOT GROW UP AND HAPPILY MARRY SAM BECAUSE I HATE HIM! GET IT! GET IT THROUGH YOUR STUPID, THICK HEADS! I DON'T NEED MORE 'WINK, WINK, SOMEONES GOING TO MARRY SAM BRIGHT! _HE_ DOESN'T LOVE ME! JACKSON DOES! I LOVE JACKSON AND I _HATE ALL OF YOU_!" Rose was sobbing wildly now. She ran out of the kitchen and disappeared with a crack.

All of the adults looked worried, and some even frightened. "I- I- I didn't know she felt that way." Hermione looked stunned.

Harry looked affected the most of all, because he knew how it felt to be told 'oh, you're _just_ like James'. With him, though, it had made him feel happy. No one, least of all him, had realized that Rose didn't feel like that. When she had told them she hated Sam, that she was going to marry Jackson, that she _loved_ Jackson they had put it down as childish dislike, never bothered to consider that it was real. And now, she was gone because of it. Harry dropped the plate he was holding and froze like a statue. He didn't pick the dish up.

Ginny ran over to Harry and hugged him. "She'll be okay. We'll find her. Rosie will be fine." she whispered, mistaking his fear. "We'll find her. It'll be OK."

"How?" Ron groaned. "HOW are we going to find her?" Hermione sobbed into his chest. Their daughter, their baby, gone...

James, Lily, Charly, Albus and Hugo stared on at the weeping adults in dismay. "I-I still have my cell with me." Lily said in a small voice. "We could leave Rose a message..." Her voice trailed off feebly as everyone looked at her with new hope in their eyes.

Uncle George broke the silence. "Yes, lets. I'll do it since she doesn't hate me yet."

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Rose lay on the dewy grass somewhere in Scotland, her heart pounding. It was early morning and white fog obscured everything, although she knew she was in a small meadow between two tiny hills. Her head ached. It was still only seven O'clock, still very early.

Rose had cried her heart out until her eyes were dry and red. They itched, too.

Rose rolled over on her back and plucked a flower from the springy, moist ground beside her. It was a white flower, and It reminded her too much of a lily. She crumpled it up and threw it away in disgust.

Right now, she just wanted to forget everything. She wanted to forget her parents, who she never seemed to please, forget that bitch Sam Bright, who would never know when to quit, forget Lily Potter, who she never wanted to be and everyone seemed to think she was.

Oh, She was planning to go back before the Hogwarts Express left tomorrow. But not yet. Let them think a while. Let them realize she was not Lily reborn. Let them think a while on her and Jackson. Rose had never, ever, told them how much in love they were. She pulled a fine silver chain out from her thick purple sweater. A lock of sleek, but slightly curly mahogany brown hair rested on it. Rose held the chain up above her face. On it was a ring. A promise ring. It was very simple, a slim silver circle with a carved rose and a simple, plain, but meaningful engraving:_ I love you_.

The only person who knew it existed (besides Jackson, of course) was Raychel Amberlake. She was sworn under an unbreakable vow (Rose had been very serious about it) never to tell, hint, or otherwise tip off anyone about it. And Raychel had better keep that vow, or _else_.

Rose rolled over again, the dewy ground soaking her jeans and sweater. Rose closed her eyes and tried to block everything out. For a while, it worked. But then, her parents, Aunts and Uncles slipped into her dreams, poisoning them.

_Jackson's face appears. Rose is not alarmed. This happens often. "I love you Rosie, I love you." he whispers. This is what Rose wants to hear. She loves Jackson too. He is her soul mate._

_Then Sam appears. "Will you go out with me, Weasley?" This is not unusual either, but less welcome._

_A third face swims into view. This is odd, there has never been a third face before. Who is it?_

_It is Scorpius. He doesn't say anything, just sits there, serious, silent._

_Then he speaks. "Don't pick either of them, Rosie."_

_Then everything disappears in a swirl. A new scene forms._

_Rose walks down the stairs. She is beautiful, wearing a new dress, one that she just bought that day. She smiles brightly at her family. A lot of people are there. It is a party. A beautiful pine tree is in the corner, adorned with twinkling lights, red, gold, blue,yellow and green. Presents sit underneath the fragrant needles, colorfully rapped. A child's name is written on each one. Aunt Donna stands in the kitchen, talking animatedly to Fleur, the only Weasley/Potter she really likes. Eleven year old Fred and ten year old Billy Corner are playing with toy brooms, running into walls, the tree, and people, laughing uproariously. The scene is perfect, except for one thing._

_James is leaning against the back of a couch. Sam Bright is next to him. They are both young, about sixteen. Sam winks at Rose._

_"Hey Rosie, Hot dress."_

_Rose immediately turns sour. "I'm going to find my boyfriend. Bye."_

_"He's not here. Jackie boy didn't get an invite." James says, grinning. Rose's eyes narrow. She suspects that he has something to do with this. She is right._

_"I'll be your boyfriend, Baby." Sam smirks._

_"In your dreams, Bright." Rose snaps._

_"Actually, in his dreams, you two just skip the 'dating' stage, get married, and make lots of babies."_

_"Oh for God's sake." Rose stalks off, completely pissed. Behind her, Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny are laughing about how Rose is 'so much like Lily. She and Sam are just perfect for each other!'._

_Rose can hear. Why don't they get it? She isn't Lily._

Rose woke up sweating. She sat up erect. She didn't know at what point her dream had slipped into a memory. Christmas, last year. Sam ruined everything, even her memories. Laying back down, Rose concentrated on breathing. In and out. In, out, in, out. She closed her eyes but didn't try to sleep again. She didn't want to slip back into the rest of that memory. That horrible Christmas.

_I like that boom boom pow_

_them chicken jackin' my style_

_They try copy my swagger_

_I'm on that next shit now_

Rose cracked open her eyes, annoyed. That stupid cell phone. Stupid song. Why the hell had she even wanted one of those stupid things anyway? They were just using it to track her.

Nevertheless, she flipped open the little phone.

'_Your call has been forwarded to an automated voice messaging system. Rose Weasley is not available. At the tone, please record your message.'_

_BEEEEP_

"Rose? Rosie? It's Uncle George. Listen kid, we need you back at home. We love you, Rosie. All us adults were just idiots. We were so blind we couldn't see. I'm sorry, Kiddo.

"We love you. We all love you. Especially Ron and Hermione. You wouldn't know how frantic they are to have you back. They're really upset. We need you, Rosie. Apparate back home when you can. If you need some alone time, that's fine too. But come back soon."

_BEEEEP_

Rose smiled. She was coming back, but not just then. She did need some alone time. To think.

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Ron and Hermione were pacing frantically around the kitchen. The other four adults were trying to calm them down. Suddenly they stopped.

George had returned from outside where he had made the call.

"Well?" Ron begged for news.

"I did it. Now we just have to wait and see." Hermione resumed her pacing, faster than ever, while Ron replayed the recorded message George had sent over and over.

_BEEEEP_

"Rose? Rosie? It's Uncle George. Listen kid, we need you back at home. We love you, Rosie. All us adults were just idiots. We were so blind we couldn't see. I'm sorry, Kiddo.

"We love you. We all love you. Especially Ron and Hermione. You wouldn't know how frantic they are to have you back. They're really upset. We need you, Rosie. Apparate back home when you can. If you need some alone time, that's fine too. But come back soon."

_BEEEEP_

All day they sat in the kitchen, waiting anxiously.

At nine-thirty AM the five teenagers sneaked upstairs and sat, playing wizard chess without really noticing what was going on.

At a quarter to twelve the teens trickled down the stairs again and paced in line with Hermione.

Lunchtime came and went, nobody eating a thing.

The same happened for dinner.

At ten-fifteen Ginny and Fleur herded the kids upstairs and into pajamas, although they knew very well no one would sleep.

At half-past eleven PM, the six had given up any hope of a reply message that night. They could only hope that Rose would be back in the morning. Then, the text message light on lily's phone (which George was holding) blinked green.

_I'll be back in the morning. Rose._

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**A/N: what do you think? Review!**

**Since it's chapter 2, I'm going to up my price for the next chapter. I'll write 400 words for every 1 review.**

**Review review review review review review ! Review review review review review review !**

**Also, what do you think about Jackson? I know I haven't really sketched out his character yet, but tell me what you think about him!**

**I updated really early because I don't think I could handle it if I had to add another 500 words!**

**Again, I will write 400 words for every review I get!**


	3. Back Again

**Thanks to my 12 reviewers! I love you all!**

**Sorry it took me so long to post, but 4800 words is one freaking long chapter! However, I finished it, so here it is!**

**EvieRox: Right now it's Rose/Jackson, but that will change later. Once they're at school, Scorpius will become a more important character. Also, in the books, I don't think it said who Victoire's parents are, and if JKR said on some website, I have no clue. Remember, this is 24 years after the final battle. Teddy is 24, Victoire is probably 23, and they're probably married by now. They might come into the story later, but right now they're not characters.**

**Okay also, this chapter is not one of my absolute favorites, but it's extremely important, as it shows a bit more of Jackson and Sam's characters. I need to make the distinction between Sam and James, because while James was hopelessly in love and would never do anything to hurt Lily, Sam's just a jerk and he doesn't care what breaking up J and R would do to R.**

**And, while I love Scorpius, this will not go Rose/Scorpius for a few more chapters. Sorry!**

**Disclaimer: JKR owns HP. I am not JKR. Therefore...**

_Previously: _

_At ten-fifteen Ginny and Fleur herded the kids upstairs and into pajamas, although they knew very well no one would sleep._

_At half-past eleven PM, the six had given up any hope of a reply message that night. They could only hope that Rose would be back in the morning. Then, the text message light on lily's phone (which George was holding) blinked green._

_I'll be back in the morning. Rose._

Rose was sitting at the kitchen table when Lily and Charly tip toed down early that morning. Her legs were crossed and she was staring blankly at the grain in the dark cherry wood table top. Her shiny brown hair was tied loosely in two pigtails with sunshine yellow ribbons, but some of her glossy brown curls had escaped them and were loose, framing her clear, heart-shaped face.

They pulled out chairs on either side of Rose and sat down.

"Hey, Rosie." Lily said softly.

"Hi." Rose didn't look up. "I'm sorry."

"No, we're sorry." Charly said firmly. "We should be sorry."

Rose finally lifted her head. Her normally amber eyes were still red, but she was smiling a little. "It's OK. I'm not mad anymore. Really."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Then, the Weasley/Potter's started tricking down the stairs. Hermione came first. She tearfully squeezed her daughter into a hug, a cascade of water droplets falling from her eyes. "Never put me through that again, Rosie." She whispered. Her voice cracked. Rose felt her eyes start to water too. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." she repeated over and over.

Thankfully, no one else mentioned Rose's disappearance and treated her normally.

Breakfast wasn't as awkward as it had been the day before. Rose ate, although not very much. No one even mentioned Lily Evans.

After all the food was gone (although James, Albus, and Hugo were urging Fleur, who was on breakfast duty, to make more), the six Hogwarts students traipsed upstairs to do some last-minute packing. James announced that he was done the second they got to his room. Albus kicked his trunk. The lock popped open and an avalanche of loose items tumbled out. James groaned.

Starting to pick the things up, James mumbled "A little help, guys?" Hugo got on the ground to help him.

Rose rolled her eyes. Grabbing her cherry wand, she waved it in a long, sweeping motion. All of the spilled items settled neatly in the trunk. However, even Rose's neat packing job couldn't make the lid close. Grudgingly, James dug under a stack of clean robes and yanked out a pile of plastic cases. CD's.

Rose read the titles on some of them. "'American Idiot'? 'My chemical Romance'? _'Soundtrack of Halo 2?_" She snorted. "James, these are muggle CD's!"

"They're like, a million years old, too." Albus commented. "My collection's better. I have the Halo _6_ soundtrack. 2 came out thirty years ago!"

Lily looked shocked. "_you_ know that?"

"Everyone does." Albus shrugged noncommittally. "All the guys have CD's. We trade them. They're cool. The Weird Sisters should make them." Even after three decades, the Wizarding band Weird Sisters was still going strong.

Rose was still skeptical. "You know those won't work around Hogwarts, right? There's too much magic."

"It won't bother those." Hugo said. "Those are enchanted. James did all of ours a few weeks ago."

"Whatever. James, you can't bring those. You don't have enough room."

"Actually, Oh wise head girl, I was about to ask you to fit them in your trunk." James told her, smirking. "Hugo has informed me you still have a substantial amount of space."

Hugo seemed to deflate before their eyes as Rose threw him a death glare. "That's for my new dress robes!"

"Rosie, you already have six pairs of those packed." even Charly seemed shocked by the amount of clothes Rose seemed to need.

"So?" Rose snapped. "There's more than six feasts in the year, and then there's my graduation dress robes, and then-"

James stopped her rant. "Rosie, no. Can you shrink these for me then?"

"We learned how to do that last year!" But she did it anyway. James smirked as he pushed the marble sized stack of CD's into his back pocket.

"I'm done!" Announced Albus. Hugo nodded too. "Yeah."

Rose, Lily, and Charly walked back to Lily's room to get their trunks. On Rose's sleeping bag was the one set of designer robes she owned. They were wrapped in sheets of white paper, still in a bundle. They had arrived by owl from Diagon alley sometime in the night, and Rose had not unwrapped them yet, even to see how they looked. Of course, she knew how they looked, as a set of them had been displayed in Madame Malkin's on a porcelain mannequin. They were beautiful, a greenish turquoise color, exactly how Rose remembered the ocean to be, with black lace on the sleeve edges and hem. When Rose had touched them, the fabric slipped through her fingers like water. They were unbelievably light and soft.

Gingerly, Rose picked up the bundle and placed it gently in her polished wood trunk. With touch of her wand, the trunk was sealed tightly, although it had no lock. It wouldn't open until she touched her wand to it again.

"Ready?" she asked, casting a look around the room for anything she may have missed. There was nothing.

"Ready-o Rosie-Posie! Ah'm ready for anything!" Lily said cheerfully. The other two girls laughed at their cousin's antics.

"Even for being a NEWT student?" Rose smirked. Lily grinned.

"Noooo, but I get a load of free periods!"

Charly sighed. "We'll need those," she reminded her. "For studying."

"Aaand kuh-widditch!"

Rose snorted. "That's assuming the captain doesn't think you're too immature to play." Lily was always goofing off in practice, although she was a brilliant chaser.

"No," Lily said dismissively. "Sam's captain and he's more immature than I am." she announced.

"Oh, I forgot!" Rose brightened up. "I'll get to play him in Quidditch this year!" mumbling, she added, "So Jake and Lee can beat the crap out of him." Lee Taylor and Jacob Tam played beater on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, which Scorpius captained and Rose played Chaser for. Although Rose wasn't friends with Scorpius, she had no trouble admitting that he was the best seeker Ravenclaw house had ever seen, including Raelyn Forest, who had graduated Hogwarts the year after Rose started, and Cho Chang, who had gone on to play seeker for the Tornadoes, one of the best teams in the league.

"Rose," Lily said sternly. "You may be my cousin, but Gryffindor is going to win this year. I know it."

"Right." Rose scoffed. "Even with you and James, that team is going to the dogs with _Bright _captaining.

"Sam's not bad." Albus said fairly. Albus had always been neutral in the Sam/Rose fight, but was inclined to back Sam too, although he was very defensive about Rose.

"No, he's great." James shook his head like a dog. "And Lils' right. We're winning."

"Hufflepuff's got a good chance to have their name on the cup, too. We're playing Alexa Pedroza as seeker, and she's a bloody genius." Albus grinned. Albus was the Hufflepuff keeper. Although neither he nor the third-year Alexa captained the team, beater Mitchell Lovegood, who had worn the badge for two years now, was also fairly good.

"She's also got an ego the size of Europe." Rose snickered. Albus shrugged. It was true- Alexa was a bit full of herself.

James shook his head. He had always teased Al about being a Hufflepuff but couldn't deny that Lovegood had put together a pretty decent team.

A strained shout rose from below the stairs. "Potter/Weasley's! You get down here NOW or I will hex you into oblivion for missing the train!"

James rolled his eyes. "Coming, mum. Keep your hair on." Ginny's reply was lost as Lily grabbed her yowling cat, Maisie (a shelter rescue Lily had adopted from a muggle animal shelter two years ago) and lifted her into a carrier.

Rose grabbed her tiny short-eared owl's cage and flicked her wand. "_Locomoter Mortis!"_ In one movement, six trunks flew into the air and filed out the door, floating five feet above the ground.

Downstairs, Ginny and Hermione were frantically packing lunches for the six students. Fleur Weasley stood nearby, criticizing Ginny's choice of fried chicken sandwiches and offering suggestions to make them healthier.

"Yes, _thank you_." Ginny snapped. "If you would just help, instead, it would go a little faster...Oh, hello kids..."

The six teens backed out of the kitchen quietly and carried the no-longer floating trunks out to Harry and Ginny's magically expanded electric car.

"God, Rose, what are your dress robes made out of, concrete?" James snarled, hauling her trunk into the backseat of the car.

"No. Silk. And concrete's _lighter_ than stone." Rose responded vacantly, not noticing the sarcasm in James' voice. Charly giggled.

They piled into the very back of the car, next to the trunks. Soon the others left the house too. Hermione drove, although James whined, saying he _did_ have a muggle driving license. Hugo joined the debate, pleading that he had a learners permit.

Eventually, James got bored with the debate and changed the subject. "Oi, Dad, you know those Hollow thingies?"

Harry shifted uncomfortably. "The Deathly Hallows?" Hermione and Ron had gone very pale. This was an extremely touchy subject for them.

James was oblivious to the obvious tension. "Yeah, those. I read about them in some book. What happened to 'em?'

Rose sucked in her breath. Neither of her parents had ever discussed this with her.

However, Harry continued calmly. "They were lost."

"All of them?"

Harry shared a glance with Ron and Hermione. "No. The stone, yes, and the wand is in a place where it will never be disturbed. But the cloak..." Harry shared another meaningful glance with the other adults. "...Well, I'll tell you when you're older."

"Where is the wand?" James persisted.

"It's in Dumbledore's tomb." Ginny said sharply. "And I hope you have the sense to never go looking for it." Her eyes pierced into him, as though she knew that was exactly what he had planned.

"I wasn't gonna!" He said hastily.

"Don't even think about it, young man." Hermione warned. "Do you know how utterly disrespectful it would be to break into another Wizard's tomb?"

"Voldy did it, Aunt Hermione!" James grinned, oblivious to the idiotic statement he had just made.

"Oohhh, because _he's_ such a great role model!" Ginny snapped. Jame seemed to understand the warning in her words and shut up.

It took a surprisingly short time to make the drive from Godric's Hollow to King's Cross, even with six hyper teenagers.

And then it was time for Rose's least favorite experience ever- crossing onto the platform. Although it never hurt and she always got through, Rose always felt like puking after going through the barrier.

Once on the platform, James quickly disappeared with Hugo tailing him. Albus said goodbye to his parents and then walked off to find his own friends. Lily and Charly went to find Vanessa. They invited Rose to come with them until she found Raychel and Chantalle, but she declined. There was someone else she needed to look for first.

A sudden tap on her shoulder made her spin around. "Jackson!"

It wasn't. "Um...sorry, Rose, it's me." Scorpius grinned. "Fancy trying to find a carriage?"

Rose quickly excused herself. "Er... Sorry, I have to go..." she waved vaguely at him. Was it just her imagination or did he look ...disappointed? More than that, even. Crestfallen.

Jackson was near the train with Aubrey, his younger sister. "Hey, Jackson." they hugged. "Hi Aubrey." Rose had always been nice to Aubrey even when Jackson wasn't, insisting Aubrey was cute. Jackson always shrugged and said that she was less annoying when other people were around. Aubrey smiled toothily whenever this happened but never denied it.

"I'm gonna be in Gryffindor!" she announced, puffing out her chest. "Right, Rose?"

Jackson smiled. Although he constantly teased Aubrey, he still loved her a lot. "You'll do great in Gryffindor." Rose smiled.

"Let's go find a carriage."

"'kay. Can Aubrey come with us? She doesn't know anybody here yet." Jackson glanced up and down the platform, as though looking for a familiar eleven-year-old, although he knew he wouldn't find one.

"Actually, Billy Corner, you know, Vanessa's younger brother, he's starting this year. But of course Aubrey can come with us." Rose smiled.

Aubrey looked thrilled. She hero-worshiped Jackson's girlfriend.

Jackson and Rose levitated the three polished wood trunks and strolled down the platform looking for an empty carriage. Near the back end of the red-and-gold train (Even though she had nothing against Gryffindor, the train was a little biased), they found one. The three sat down, Rose and Jackson on one side and Aubrey on the other.

"How was your summer?" Jackson asked as they directed the trunks onto the luggage rack.

"Great! Well, except for Hugo's friends coming over.' Rose made a face. "You know, James, Benjy, Charlene, and-"

"-Sam." Jackson finished. Like Rose, he had never liked the super-popular Marauder-ringleader Quidditch captain. He hadn't taken well to Sam trying to break them up, either. It was only McGonagall's interference that had kept Sam from booting Jackson off the Gryffindor team, despite how well the chaser played.

Rose frowned. "Yeah. I don't get why Hugo and James hang out with him!"

Jackson laughed humorlessly. "Everyone does, love. They're not the only ones."

"You don't!" Rose jumped. She had forgotten Aubrey was in the carriage. From the look on his face, so had Jackson.

He shifted in his seat. "Some people don't. But, Aubrey, Sam Bright is the height of cool at Hogwarts. He's a really messed up jerk."

"You don't say. He's been stalking me since year 5." Rose yawned. She leaned against Jackson's chest. He smiled down at her.

Rose blinked tiredly. Images swam in and out of focus and voices seemed oddly detatched. The compartment door opened and someone left. It closed again. Rose closed her eyes and gave up trying to stay awake.

Jackson PoV

Rose leaned against him, her face pressed into his chest. Jackson's arms constricted around her. She was sleeping. It was only Rose and him in the carriage; Aubrey had flounced out in disgust when Jackson kissed the top of Rose's head, calling it "utterly soppy".

Silently the carriage door opened. Jackson looked up. In the entryway stood the four people he least wanted to see- the New Marauders. Sam Bright swaggered in, followed by James Potter, Benjy Fudge Jr., and Charlene O'Grady, the second hottest girl in school. The first being his Rose, of course. Jackson nodded civilly at Charlene, who Rose was on good terms with but ignored the rest.

"May we sit down?" Smirked Bright.

Jackson stared coldly at him. "I'm not stopping you." Bright smacked his butt against the seat next to Rose and Jackson. The other boys did the same. Charlene sat also, but with more grace.

"Well, I'll cut to the point." Bright smirked again.

'Yes, please do. I don't have hours to suffer through your crap."

Sam's smirk faded and his eyes narrowed to mean little slits. "Break up with Weasley, Blake."

Jackson's eyes blazed. "No. And you claim you love her, knowing that would hurt Rose?"

Sam didn't get it. "Nooo, I want you to break up with her so _I_ can date her."

Jackson sighed, knowing that there was no point in explaining how breaking up often made people sad. Really, the moron had broken up with enough girls to know that they cried after he dumped them. Although James and Benjy were staring at Jackson with the same cold expression that Sam had, Charlene had pursed her lips as though she didn't really agree with Bright. But fat chance that she would say anything.

"Well, anyway," Sam continued. "Do it. Or else."

Jackson sneered. "Or else what? Are you _threatening _me?"

"Yeah. I guess." Sam replied unfazed.

"No." Jackson said flatly. "I will not."

"Your funeral." Sam slunk out the glass door. James and Benjy glared at Jackson as they filed out.

Charlene, however, through a pitying glance at Jackson before she slid out too. And the worst part was that Jackson pitied himself too.

Because Sam always got what he wanted.

Always.

You didn't do that to Sam Bright. Not if you wanted to live any longer.

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Rose woke up just as the sun outside the window was fading into the flat orange land that stretched for miles on either side of the track.

At some point, Jackson must have moved as he was dressed in the black school uniform robes with the Gryffindor Crest on the right side. His red and gold tie hung loosely around his neck.

Rose slid out of his arms and smiled tiredly. "Hey."

"You want me to go while you change?"

"Yeah. How long was I out?"

"A few hours. There's about thirty minutes until we reach the Hogsmeade station." Jackson opened the sliding door. "I'll come back in ten minutes, 'kay?"

"Sure." Jackson walked out of the compartment. Rose pulled her trunk off the rack, not bothering to use magic. She yanked one of her school uniforms out of it.

Rose liked the school uniform. The short gray skirt and white blouse went perfectly with the Ravenclaw colors; blue and bronze. Rose's robes had the Ravenclaw Eagle silhouetted in bronze on a blue background and the tie was striped. Even her slightly curly chocolate brown hair matched.

Rose sighed as she slipped into the outfit. The silky robes felt good after three months in only itchy muggle clothes. No matter how much Jackson insisted that she looked beautiful in anything, Rose felt self-conscious in anything but robes.

Ten minutes later, Rose was dressed. She slid open the compartment door. Jackson was leaning on the non-sliding part, humming something that Rose recognized as the chorus to the band Inferius' song _The last stand_.

_They stood facing north_

_the castle loomed behind_

_the dark ones retreated_

_I fell to the ground and lay there, silent._

_Why? Why me?_

_The dying surrounded me_

_the dead numbered even more_

_the wounded lay on the ground_

_and those still alive cried over them._

Rose stood quietly. She knew the song well; it had been written about the final battle, a battle in which her parents and their friends had fought in. Uncle Fred and Charly's parents had been murdered during it or in the years following, rounding up survivors of the dark side.

It was a sad song, often performed or recited at the Memorial Services held every year to honor those who died. Rose always cried when it was sung. Her parents did too, remembering Fred, Gabrielle, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Collin and Dennis Creevey, and the many others they had known.

"Jackson." She said quietly. "Jackson."

With a surprised look on his face, he whirled around. "Oh! Sorry, you startled me."

"It's OK. You can come back in now." Rose was studying Jackson's face carefully. Several members of his family had been killed fighting and he was one of the many that knew the power of the song. He didn't sing it often.

"Yeah. 'kay." Although he came back into the compartment, neither of them talked until the train reached Hogsmeade.

"Which carriage is the prefects meeting in?" Jackson asked. In the past twenty years, it had become a tradition to hold the prefects meeting during the flight to Hogwarts rather than on the train, for the sake of convenience.

"Carriage ten, like always." Rose said, walking out the sliding door. Outside, they found Aubrey standing in the corridor with another girl, who didn't say anything. Aubrey introduced the girl as Esperanza Quintero.

"Do you have an older sister- a fourth year Ravenclaw?" Rose squinted, recognizing something in the girl's face.

Esperanza nodded shyly. "Yes. Two sisters, actually, but one's left Hogwarts. That was Esmeralda. The fourth year's Julissa."

Rose smiled. "Know what house you'll be in?"

Esperanza shrugged. "No. Julissa's Ravenclaw and Esmeralda was Gryffindor. I'll probably be Hufflepuff, though."

"Nothing wrong with that," Jackson said, smiling. "Hufflepuff's a great house."

"My cousin's in it." Rose added.

"I'm gonna be Gryffindor!" Aubrey announced proudly. "Like my brother."

Again, Jackon promised, "You'll be a great Gryffindor." Aubrey looked like she was bursting with pride.

"First Years, First Years, this way please!" It wasn't Hagrid (who was going on 75 and had horrible rheumatism in his knees).

"No way!" Someone said behind them. Rose turned. It was Albus and Zeke, his best friend. "That's Charlie!"

"I know, numskull!" Rose hissed.

Jackson gawped. "You mean Charlie, your Uncle Charlie?"

"Yes." Rose sighed. Charlie had been talking about getting a new job- Dragon chasing was a job for young legs- but had never mentioned taking a teaching job at Hogwarts, of all places.

Although, If Rose though about it, she had to admit Charlie was perfectly qualified and knew almost as much about magical creatures as Hagrid. The teaching job really was the perfect occupation for him.

Aubrey was tugging on her robe sleeve. "Will you take me and Ezzie to meet Hagrid?" Her eyes were big, having obviously heard a lot about the half-giant man from her brother and nineteen year-old sister.

Rose through a pitying smile at her. "Sorry, Aubrey, Hagrid's not here. Charlie is."

Jackson didn't bother telling her that. "'Ezzie'?" he raised his eyebrows.

Aubrey gabbed on. "Yeah, well, Esperanza's kind of a mouthful, so i can't say like, Esperanza, what's the answer to question 2, or Esperanza, pass the cookies, so i made it shorter, and..." Aubrey trailed off as she noticed nobody was listening.

a lantern bobbed into view. "Rose!" Charlie said.

"Uncle Charlie! you got a teaching job?"

"yes, Hagrid retired...He's getting awfully old."

"So's McGonagol." Jackson remarked.

"Yes, well, her job's a lot less demanding. these firsties?" Charlie peered at the two eleven year olds.

"Yeah. That's my sister, and that's a friend." Jackson paused. "Rose and me should probably go, the prefects meeting's about to start and they can't without Rose, the head boy's an idiot."

"Josh Aiden is not and idiot!" Rose shook a finger at him. "He's just a little...well..."

"Ditzy? Blond? Stupid?" Jackson supplied.

"Well, yeah." She admitted. "Bye!" They strolled off to the extra-large prefects carriage that sat right in the middle of the row of carriages.

"Rosie, put your badge on." Jackson reminded her. You couldn't get into the prefects carriage unless you were wearing a prefect or head badge. Rose's had previously been stuffed inside her pocket.

Now that it was pinned on her robes, people were staring at her with odd expressions. Jealousy, contempt (Not a pureblood head? How dare they!), smug I-knew-it-now-pay-up-I-won-the-bet looks, surprise, boredom (duh, who else?), and annoyance (great. now she's going to crack down on troublemakers).

The new Marauders were standing by the prefects carriage staring also. Apparently, James had not told them. When Sam noticed Rose looking at him, he winked and pulled his signature smirk to which Jackson mimed puking at. Rose laughed at that.

Once Jackson and Rose reached the prefect's carriage, the Marauders except for Charlene dispersed.

Charlene bit her lip and muttered "I'm sorry." extremely quietly.

They all hurried inside the carriage not making eye contact.

Once inside, Rose sat next to the Head Boy with Jackson on her other side. She recognised Olivia and Nero Selwyne, the seventh year Slytherin twins, Aubretia McDonald, Mitchel Lovegood, and of course, Scorpius. He waved.

Josh Aiden started off the meeting. "Okay, nice to see some of you back, hi newbies!" Rose glared at him. "What?" he said, unperturbed.

"Never mind." she sighed. "Ok, I'll take it from here. Fifth years, as you will undoubtably know, your main responsibiity this year is the first years. You will be required to babysit them during rainy free periods." The new prefects groaned. "Also, you will show them the Common Room and the Dormitories for your respective houses. The Gryfindor password is 'Platypus'. the Hufflepuff password is 'Onomatopoeia'. The Slytherin password is 'Triskaidekaphobia'. If passwords are leaked, prefects will be held responsible as they are the only ones who know all the passwords."

Josh Aiden tried and failed to look stern. "Yeah. That."

Rose glared at him and continued. "We will have a longer planning meeting on September tenth to discuss a Halloween ball and patrolling duties. Josh and I will have your schedules ready then." _Or I will_ she thought wryly. "That's all for now."

The prefects relaxed and chatted with their friends. Scorpius moved so he was sitting with Rose, Jackson, Aubretia, and Josh.

"Hey, Rosie!" Aubretia said cheerfully. She was the sort of person who always seemed to be bubbly. "How was your summer?"

"It was great! Yours?"

"Awesome! My muggle neighborhood, they built this pool, so my muggle friends and I went swimming there all summer long, it was..." Aubretia chattered on and on until the carriages landed with a bump five minutes later. "...and so I said, 'listen kid, I'm three years older than you.' I mean, I'm like a senior, and he's only a freshman, you know in muggle high school, and he's like, 'yeah, but I'm tall' and I go, 'so?' and he's like 'we look good together' and I'm like 'in your dreams' and then I grabbed Sara and I pretended to, like, make out with her, so then I go, 'I'm gay, kid' and he's like, 'oh', and walks away, and we're all laughing, me and sara and Emelia and Ricardo, cause, you know, I'm like not, and then..."

Rose snickered in the appropriate places during Aubretia's narration all the way into the great hall where Peeves and Elli the poltergeists were dive-bombing a group of second years, who were shrieking and running.

Like always, Rose took her place at the Ravenclaw table next to Raychel and Chantalle, who she hugged.

"Hey, girl," said Raychel. "Haven't seen you for a while." They swapped summer stories until the first years were herded in, expression's of awe on their tiny faces.

Raychel, Chantalle, and Rose settled back in their seats to watch the sorting.

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POLLS ON PROFILE! 2 OF THEM!

**A/N: what do you think? Love it? Hate it? Review!  
**

**The song/poem is a lot longer, you can read the full thing in my oneshot poem _The last stand_.**

**Also, I was wondering: Jackson or Scorpius or (shudder) Sam? It won't change how the story goes- I know who's going to end up with who- but I was just wondering. There's a poll on my profile that I think I'll close Friday. VOTE! I don't have stickers like they give you after an election (I VOTED! YAY! Those stickers), but I'll give you a big, imaginary hug if you do vote! Now Dumbledore's going to give you some important info.**

**Dumbledore: Alas, yet again the price has gone up. 300 words per review.**

**300/1 = x/15**

**what is x?**

**X = 4500 words or one freaking long chapter. For just 15 reviews.**

**Hehe. My math teacher would be proud.**


	4. Unbreakable is Broken

**A/N: OK, I know. I'm the biggest procrastinator in the world. And I have a million excuses, too. Mainly writer's block. Also, I never have time to just sit and think. However, over labor day weekend, I had no soccer, no volleyball, and only a minimum of HW (curse my science teacher. Up until now I had liked that class. Kidding.) Anyways, for the more logical minded people, here's a riddle for you:**

**One child (Billy, Fred, Aubrey, Esperanza) goes to each house**

**Neither Rose nor Jackson is related to the Slytherin child**

**Aubrey is not a Ravenclaw**

**Billy's house quidditch team will never play against seeker Alexa Pedroza**

**Where does each child go?**

**The sorting will not come up in this chapter (or, I think, the entire story), but the first person to answer this correctly in a review will be PM'd an excerpt of a new story I'm working on, Running Blind (a L/J fic). And I'll PM everyone who answers it the summary, which is really just a shorter excerpt. The actual story won't be posted (probably) until thanksgiving.**

Rose scowled, pulling out a pile of neatly folded, fresh smelling robes from her clothes drawers. She dumped the pristine stack on her bed and began sorting them by color.

Raychel Amberlake lay on her dorm room 4 poster and rolled onto her stomach. She propped herself up on her elbows, saying "Why do you bother doing that, Rose? I wish the house elves would fold my clothes every laundry day. And you're just redoing everything."

"You know I like my clothes color coded."

"Oh yes," Chantalle, on the window edge bed, mocked. This year the three were the only ones in their dorm, being one of the first classes of post-war babies, during which time the Wizarding world went through an all-time population low. ""The queen of OCD organization has returned for yet another season of ridiculously stupid clothes sorting!"

"I am _not_ OCD." Rose snapped, snatching a pile of jeans and dress pants. She began to furiously sort them into piles of denim, khaki, and black.

"Oooh, let's talk about something interesting. Boys!" Chantalle giggled.

"That slutty Lady Wahwah song? She's sooo annoying!" Raychel groaned. Rose giggled.

"No, I mean the Hogwarts male population. I mean, can you beelieeve that James Potter's muscles?" Rose groaned inwardly. Not a day passed without Chantalle obsessing over one or another hot seventh year guy.

Apparently Raychel wasn't listening. "I mean, you know what she reminds me of?" Raychel rambled on, answering her own question without giving pause. "Those ridiculous Bonus Brothers! They're annoying too! And those clicky girls people!"

"So are there any muggle artists you can stand to listen to?" Rose asked dryly.

"Uh, yeah, that Michael Jackson dude."

Rose's mouth dropped open. "You got his name right."

"Yeah, why?" Raychel looked genuinely confused.

Rose snorted but dropped it.

"Back on topic, please!" Chantalle yelled impatiently. "Jame Potter and Sam Bright are sooo hot! Well, your Quidditch boy's OK too, I guess."

"Excuse me?" Rose feigned being hurt. Truthfully, she was glad Chantalle had no interest in Jackson. The only word that could be used to describe Chantalle's appearance was gorgeous, and Rose was not willing to deal with another girl after her boyfriend.

"Well, he's cute, I guess but not really in the same league as Sam and James and Benji, ohmigod Benji is adorable!"

"Oh, oh, oh. Chani, Don't insult Miss Lady Capulet's boy." Raychel smirked. "Romeo, Jackson-o, wherefore art thou? Come down from thy Quidditch pitch, Oh Jackson-o!"

"Shut up! _Shut _up!" Rose's ears burned scarlet in embarrassment. "I do _not_ sound like that!

"And that's not all," Raychel said loudly. "Jackson gave Rose a – a –". But something was wrong. Raychel's eyes bugged out and she grabbed at her throat before falling off the bed.

"Auguamenti! Auguamenti!" A stream of pure water drizzled out of Rose's wand into Raychel's mouth. It trickled down her throat as Rose grabbed at her limp wrist. There was a pulse. Rose sighed in relief. "Ennervate!" Raychel's eyes fluttered open to reveal fearful, pale blue iris's.

"I thought I was dead." She stood up shakily and a torrent of green-gray liquid poured from her mouth as she held her stomach and retched. Rose vanished it before it hit the floor

She performed the water charm again on Raychel; this time less bile came up. The fourth time the water stayed down.

Raychel turned to look at Rose, who's eyes she had previously avoided.

'I'm sorry Ray, really am" Rose had the decency to look guilty. "I removed the vow too... but you should spend the night in the hospital wing just in case."

"No." Raychel looked shaken. "Madam Lash can't know I was under an unbreakable. God, I wish Madam P was still here. She never asked questions. But I'll make it. You shadowed at St. Mungo's this summer, right Rose?"

"Yeah..." Rose paused to rummage in her top nightstand drawer, finally coming up with a leather "St. Mungo's" stamped case. Out of it she pulled a narrow, blue glass vile. "Thank god a have a first aid kit. Drink this."

Raychel downed the opaque liquid, only bothering to ask "What is it?" after.

"It's a purging potion. In a few hours, all the bile will be gone from your body. Oh, and it will make you... sleepy. Never mind."

Chantalle and Rose eased their unconscious friend onto her bed. Rose smirked. The potion wasn't always instantanious, only the perfect ones were and Rose brewed this one herself.

**A/N: It was short, but, I think, pretty good. Please review! I will start PM'ing those who answer the riddle with the Running Blind Excerpt/summary tomorrow. Reviews are really appreciated, I love knowing what people think.**

**Eviltwin/Hallie**

**P.S. my poll is still on my profile, please vote! Depending on the result, something WILL change in the next few chapters!  
**


	5. The First Week

**Warning: there will be character death in this chapter and a couple of times throughout the fic. No **_**Major**_** characters will be killed, but there will be death. This story has a plot, unlike some fics that continue forever with no storyline.**

**So, on with the story.**

_Last Chapter: While settling into their dorm, Raychel almost spills a secret that she is under an unbreakable vow not to share. Major freakout happens when Raychel falls unconscious and throws up green bile. Rose gives Raychel a purging potion that, as a side affect, causes her to fall asleep. Chantalle wonders about this, because she recognized symptoms of an unbreakable vow''s effects._

Of course she told Chantalle. How could Rose not, with Raychel lying on her bed after near-death? That secret was history now, Rose thought miserably. Chantalle was gossip central in Hogwarts. She felt guilty for having so little faith in her friend, but what could she do? Nothing.

Rose rolled over in her blue she screwed her eyes shut and buried her face in the biggest bronze pillow on her canopy style bed and folded it up around her ears. All she could hear was the high-pitched squealing – "_Really? Really? Really?_" of Chantalle that kept a constant beat inside her head.

Rose moaned and through the pillow into the darkness of the dorm, and listened to the dull thud and _whoosh _of air as the pillow settled somewhere on the hard wood floor.

It was a while before the tuneless chanting left her mind.

* * *

When Rose and Chantalle woke the next morning, the first thing they noticed was Raychel had fallen off her four-poster sometime in the night and was thrashing around on the floor, sweating and shivering at the same time.

"Fever chills." Rose announced. Chantalle wrapped her thin fingers around Raychel's forehead and nodded.

"Toss me a thermometer." Rose did, and Chantalle slipped it under Raychel's tongue, holding it there for thirty seconds. When she pulled it out, she swore quietly (the only kind of swearing Chantalle ever did). "She's running at 103.2, she has to go to the hospital wing. Chantalle ran to the sixth year girls dorm and brought Vanessa Corner and Iris Rush back to help haul Raychel down the steep stairwell to the common room. Once there, Zack and Jake, the 6th year Ravenclaw beaters, showed off their muscles in a manly man display of carrying Raychel to the hospital wing.

Raychel had bronchitis and a cold, Madam Lash proclaimed, and she stayed in the Hospital wing for several days after that.

Down at breakfast, Rose and Chantalle reviewed their schedules. Both wanted to become healers, so all but one of their classes were the same. Rose had opted to continue Arithmancy although the subject was unnecessary for a healer, but they both had Potions, DADA, Magical Creatures, Transfiguration, Herbology, and Charms. She and Jackson shared all of their classes but Herbology and Magical Creatures. Jackson wanted to be a curse breaker, so he had opted for Ancient Runes too.

The only class they had on Mondays was double potions with Professor Sala, a graduate of GGME (Golden Gate Magical Education Academy of San Francisco). She was the youngest teacher in Hogwarts at 26, and most definitely the coolest. Her students called her Analisa (her first name), and she told funny stories about her school days and two identical triplet sisters, Amrit, the eldest, and Amaryllis, the youngest.

The potions class was tiny with only fifteen students. Chantalle, Rose, and Aubretia McDonald were the first students in the brightly lit potions dungeon (Analisa had really imposed her personality on the once-gloomy place – It had undergone a dramatic change during the summer before third year) and took full advantage of this, snagging a table in the very front with four seats, saving one of them for Raychel. The large room gradually began to fill as students trickled in and claimed their seats. Olivia and Nero Selwyne found a table with Jacquelyn Manson of Slytherin, Jamison Stewart and Scorpius Malfoy of Ravenclaw. Benji Fudge and Charlene of the Marauders came in and sat together at an empty table but were soon surrounded by a gaggle of popularity-seeking Gryffindors. Aubretia was the only Hufflepuff. James Potter and Sam Bright had failed to achieve the required grade. They took notes and then divided into pairs to brew a potion.

The potion they made was a difficult concoction meant to change an appearance. It only affected one element at a time and needed a piece of whatever they wanted it to change something into. Analisa stressed that they were only doing hair changing potions (requiring a bit of someone's hair), as she didn't want anyone cutting off a chunk of skin or an eyeball. Rose and Jackson traded hairs as she'd always wanted to have his gold/blonde color. They labeled their potions with their names and the donor of the hairs, and then placed them in the potion cabinet to cool off. Analisa dismissed the class early, praising their work and telling them to prepare to test the potions next week. Rose had serious doubts about whether some of the potions would change your hair color or poison the drinker.

Chantalle and Rose ate a late lunch and then visited Raychel in the hospital wing. Raychel was now conscious and distressed about missing the first day of school. She made Rose and Chantalle promise they would let her copy their notes. When they left the hospital wing, Raychel fought with Madam Lash, saying she was perfectly fine and wanted to leave. Madam Lash won, however, and Raychel stayed in the Hospital Wing.

Tuesday was Arithmancy and Transfiguration, the two hardest classes Rose was taking. Both of them were with Jackson, so they partnered together all day. Transfiguration with Professor Prewitt was easy; she lectured the class about NEWTs and then told them to copy the notes she'd written on the board. Professor Vector of Arithmancy started his class off with a NEWT lecture too, but then proceeded to give them a pretest that covered everything from third year on. Rose blanked on the question about using slope to determine a spells power, but was at least sure she remembered the seven properties of seven.

Wednesday was Rose's favorite day; no classes at all. Jackson had Ancient Runes, but also had a free period in the morning and so they took a walk by the lake.

Thursday was the worst, with DADA, Herbology, and Charms. The workload was enormous and all three professors assigned homework. On top of that, it rained, which seemed like a gloomy omen to Rose as she trudged down the worn path to greenhouse 6. Rose skipped lunch to do her Herbology assignment that was due the following day. She couldn't believe her bad luck – two consecutive days of Herbology, her worst subject!

Friday was (again) Herbology and Magical creatures. Rose turned the homework in and received another assignment from strict Professor Longbottom. At Hogwarts it really was what you know, not who you know, as her parents having a close personal friendship with Neville didn't seen to make a difference. Care of Magical Creatures was slightly awkward with Rose's uncle teaching, but Charlie knew what he was talking about at least. Rose wondered how Charlies fiancee, Annaliese, felt about him taking the position when they had just moved in together. She assumed he flooed in every morning to work so he wasn't away from her.

Her weekend was spent finalizing the details of the prefect patrol schedule. It should have been done three days ago, but with only Rose working on the schedule, it took much longer.

Finally, on Sunday afternoon, she was ready for the prefect meeting. Clutching twenty-four thick packets of paper, Rose descended from Ravenclaw tower with Scorpius Malfoy and two fifth year prefects in tow, headed for classroom 22.

* * *

Rose entered the prefect-filled classroom with all eyes on her. The mostly unused classroom 22, fondly nicknamed the Prefect Party Room, was typically the site of major prefect meetings (no party ever went on in here).

"So, how was everyone's' first week back?" She asked brightly. A chorus of scattered, dull "good"'s and one loud "lame" echoed back.

"Attitude, Malfoy." Rose said disapprovingly. She felt a twinge of meanness when she saw Scorpius grimace, and remembered how much he hated his father's last name.

Rose's own first week had in fact been terrific. Despite the stress of NEWT's that came as a package with 7th year, Rose thrived in Hogwarts and managed to balance head duties on top of everything. Of course, being Hogwarts' resident Queen Bee didn't hurt any.

She gazed around the room, taking in who sat with who and where little cliques had formed of housemates. Olivia and Nero Selwyne of Slytherin were talking with everybody about everything, flitting around the room at the speed of light, Nero especially. She noticed that the Gryffindors held themselves aloof from everyone else. She scowled inside her head. Gryffindors could be such snobs at times, really. Albus, the sixth year Hufflepuff male prefect, grinned at her from his spot with the Puff's and Claw's. Charlene McGrady of Gryffindor appeared to be missing.

"Does anyone know where McGrady is? From Gryffindor? Charlene McGrady?" Rose asked.

A few Gryffindor girls giggled and one boy spoke up "Uh, I think she's with James....in a broom closet." He too dissolved into high-pitched giggles that contrasted his deep voice as several Gryffindors nodded agreement.

Rose frowned. James and Charlene had an unusual relationship. They both dated other people, but when they weren't, the two behaved like a couple, calling there relationship off whenever one developed a new crush or was asked out. She disapproved of this habit, but really, what could she do? James was James and no one could stop him. She began her prepared speech.

"So, you've all had an easy time while I prepared your patrol schedules." _oops. _Scorpius smirked, catching her slip-up – Aiden was supposed to have prepared the schedules with Rose. Josh nodded like he was listening – as if!

"But now your duties start," Rose continued. "Each 5th year is paired up with a 7th year in their house. 6th years patrol alone – you are expected to be able to, I hope none of you are afraid of the dark." Rose paused as people laughed. "Heads will patrol on weekend all night alone. Don't worry about losing too much sleep, sixth years have the worst shifts and no one except me and Josh will do more than two or three three hour shifts per week. We only patrol from 11 pm to 5 am and I assure you, most prefects manage very well. Teachers will patrol this next week as you are still settling back into school life.

"If the nights I have assigned to you do not work out, all I can say is too bad. There will be no schedule changes until winter holidays." Rose tossed the thick paper packets she held into he air and, with her wand, directed them to their recipients. The rooms low murmuring noise rose to an excited chatter as the prefects moaned about sleep loss and found their patrol buddies.

Rose moved around the room, explaining patrol methods to the new prefects and comforting a terrified sixth year who was extremely afraid of the dark. Rose went clockwise in a circle and eventually found herself back at the front of the room.

She clapped her hands and, as everyone paused and looked up, she said "Dismissed! See me, Malfoy, or one of the Selwyne twins if you have any questions."

Scorpius came up to her and began complaining loudly about Erica Millang, his patrol partner. Scorpius, thought Rose, was a snob. With his attitude, he should have gone to Gryffindor, home of the stuck-up jerks.

I'm with _Millang? _I thought you patrolled with people in your own year!"

"Only after winter break. And your not just training Erica, you have to do Matt to because _I_ can't."

"Matthew's an OK bloke, but Erica's so... _gross._ Her skin looks like _really_ floury dough." Scorpius shuddered. "you're so much pr-"

Rose stopped him with a cold glare. "Erica is beautiful but she's the most brilliant person I've met. You're a Ravenclaw. Start thinking with your head instead of your hormones." Rose looked at Erica, the chubby witch with frizzy straw, feverishly bright blue eyes, and – it had to be admitted – rather doughy pale skin. "And your not one to talk, Mr. Boy-with-see-through-skin. This is the kind of shallow I thought you were above, _Malfoy._" This time, Rose rather put an emphasis on his last name and was meanly pleased to see him cringe.

Although she would have absolutely loved to have stalked away and left Scorpius to contemplate _that, _she thought that as head girl she ought to act slightly more mature. So the two stood there until Scorpius could stand the tension no longer and walked off.

And that suited Rose just fine. Sort of.

* * *

His boots crushed through the thick loam covering the forest floor, leaving large prints the plant debris blanket quickly slid over, leaving only shallow indents to show he had ever been there. He enjoyed these walks through the forest after curfew. Being a seventh year prefect, h could explain away any nighttime wanderings as patrols. Although, he thought with a chuckle, Rose would know – and tell him off – in an instant, because she had barely set patrols six hours before. Normally they would have been set a week ago, but that was assuming two heads were working on it. _And assume makes an ass out of you and me,_ he thought wryly.

His wand was stowed in his baggy muggle jeans back pocket. His hand darted to it at the slightest noises, but he doubted he would need it. He never had in all his midnight wanderings, and why should this time be any different?

His white-blonde hair gleamed in the light – light that... wasn't there anymore? He shrugged and continued walking. The forest was like that – very mysterious. In all the years he had walked through it, it had never chosen to yield it's secrets to him.

The path forked a few feet farther along, and he decided it was likely time to turn back.

He sighed regretfully as he checked his watch. It was in the muggle style, with glowing green numbers and a blinking colon. The pale blue face read 1:31. It was another hour back to the castle, and yet another half-hour to his dorm – why the castle had to be so damn_ big_!

He hummed a small song – a tune he himself had composed, and was in fact rather proud of – walking through the trees in a narrow winding path that alternated between climbing and declining. He could now see the moon, shining dull and yellow, through the thinning trees. He knew this place, this clearing. He passed by into darker places where the trees were closer together and the night sky disappeared from view.

Finally he came to the forest's heart. He called it that because off the dull throbbing that resonated from the white rock that rested here.

He lay his hand on the sticky surface of the heart. It pulsed quickly.

Too quickly. Something was wrong. Too fast. Too much movement...

The heart burst open and he screamed.

An army of hairy legs and glistening pincers engulfed him.

He screamed twice, and then no more as poison coursed through his body and acromantulas bit his bloody flesh.

* * *

**A/N: "What?!! What," you are asking. "what was Eviltwin thinking? Character death already? Scorpius Malfoy eaten by spiders? What about Rose? And Romance? And Quidditch?"**

**Well, I promise you Scorpius is not dead. He's not injured or damaged in any way. He, in fact, is perfectly safe.**

**So, what happened?**

**Is it even Scorpius?**

**What do you think?**

**Here's what you know already:**

**I wouldn't spring a new unnamed character on you. This is someone you have seen before.**

**This person is now dead. Scorpius is not dead. He does not come back from the dead, either.**

**This person has blonde hair.**

**This person knows Rose well.**

**This person is a prefect.**

**This person is in seventh year**

**I can think of only three characters that match this description, and you may rule one of them out because he's a total a$$ and this guy isn't.**

**Tell me who you think it is!**

**Also, it was a long wait. A very long wait. I'm sorry to say I can't promise regular updates, because of this thing called school. So it may be a long time before I update again.**

**I hope no one ditches this story because of that, but if you do I understand (I lost one of my story alert people...)**

**In response to a PM, I am 12. Don't see why you wanted to know, though.**

**Please review!**


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